Monthly Archives: July 2015

The annual Lymm AC barbel fish-in was held last week on the club’s stretch of the River Severn at Atcham. These sessions were started years ago by club legend Cliff Taylor, with the intention of introducing members to the wonderful world of barbel fishing.

This year, credit goes to Phil Hatton and coaches Big Dave and Paul Edwards for sparing their time to organise the event and giving the anglers the best chance of landing a barbel. Paul has kindly put together this report..

‘Hi lads a brilliant day was had by all who attended the barbel fish-in on Saturday,extra credits go to Dean (denzil) who made it late, but after what he’d been through getting to Atcham other people would have turned round and gone home (what a trooper!!).The day started off in the infamous raven for a healthy??? breakfast then on to Atcham where Big Dave, Phil H and me took the lads though the tackle and rigs that we use and most importantly the welfare and the safety of the fish and then the lads got split into two groups, some of the lads went into poachers and the rest went upstream into the next field where they started to put some bait into the areas they would be fishing.

Me, Phil, and Dave spent the afernoon walking up and down the river showing the lads what to look for when fishing the river like features to look for like weedbeds, deep holes, creases etc. We carried on baiting up till about six o’clock then we all went back to the car park for a brew up and cake (it wouldn’t be a fish-in without cake) then we all went back to the rods for the serious bertie bashing. One of the young lads, Alfie,was half asleep in his chair when his rod stearted to twitch and then his baitrunner started to give out line, he was on to it quickly to strike into the fish and Phil H did a brilliant job in coaching Alfie on how to play a barbel.

The look on his face when big Dave landed his first ever barbel was a picture, you couldn’t get the smile off his face, so we weighed the fish( 5lb 8oz) and i took some photos and the barbel was returned to the river and, no doubt, young Alfie will be giving his dad some earache about going fishing again.

Yours truly was fishing in my favourite peg on the stretch, anyone who knows me will know where i’m talking about and within ten minutes of casting my rigs in the baited areas, the downstream rod was off, the baitrunner was screaming for mercy when i struck into the fish and as i was playing it the other rod started twitching and developed into a run on the baitrunner, luckily the fish that i was playing got stuck in a weedbed so i put the rod on the rest so the fish could free itself while i played the other barbel so i had two barbel in the net which happens very often at Atcham so because they were having it on my peg i went down to the others and asked if anyone wanted to sit in my peg for a few hours so they can get a few fish under their belt but no-one took me up on my offer. So it turned into a good night with, Denzil had two barbel.

I think Swifty had one i’m not sure about the others but i ended up having nine fish……7lb 8oz….9lb 10 oz…5lb 3oz…..4lb 5oz…6lb 2oz….4lb ..5lb 12oz all barbel and two chub…….3lb 6oz…..4lb 7oz

But the day belonged to Alfie…..congratulations and welcome to the river rats mate!

Thanks Paul for an excellent report and well done to you, Phil and Dave for converting another batch of anglers to the River Rats!

For more info on Lymm rivers, check out the website by following the link..

****Whitley Pool will be closed until further notice due to fish reported to be in a distressed state near the bottom end of the pool, the Head Waterkeeper has acted quickly and appropriate measures are in place to aid their recovery****

****GRIMSDITCH POOL WILL BE CLOSED ON WEDNESDAY 26TH NOVEMBER TO ALLOW CONTRACTORS ACCESS TO PRUNE THE TREES AROUND THE POWER LINES****

3rd October – Whitley pool has been closed until further notice. Low oxygen levels reported this morning saw a quick response from E.A and members. The matter is in hand and the water will be open as soon as possible…. but not before its ready!!

The River Severn at Atcham/Wroxeter will be closed this Saturday 16th August from 14:00 for a Barbel coaching event.

Slaters Pit has a surface weed that we are aware of and the Estates team are dealing with having cleared a significant amount today, the fish are not in any danger at present however if you fish the venue and find any fish in distress please contact the Head Water Keeper who’s contact number is in your membership book.

The weed covering the pool is known as Azolla, this is a fast growing Non Native Invasive species and the smallest piece, transferred to other waters can cause major problems, as such we are asking ALL members who fish this water to ensure that ALL tackle, that comes into contact with the weed, is allowed to completely dry and is checked for particles of the weed BEFORE the tackle is used on any other water.

Whilst the photo’s show that not all of the weed has been removed please be reassured that a close eye will be kept on it and further removals will take place. Unfortunately there is no way to completely eradicate this highly virilant weed……please don’t be responsible for our other waters becoming infested.

5th December 2013

Serpentine Pool is still closed. Work on the pegs had started but due to amount of rain we’ve had recently the ground is too soft to drive on and take the necessary materials to the area.

5th October 2013

The River Severn at Rossall Grange will be closed whilst the road leading down to it is repaired.

Wednesday 2nd October 2013

Members are reminded that the River Severn at Atcham will be closed from midnight on Friday 4th October for the Barbel Fish-in which takes place on Saturday 5th October. The venue will reopen at 6am on Sunday 6th.

Members are reminded that the River Severn at Atcham will be closed from midnight on Friday 26th July for the Barbel Fish-in which takes place on Saturday 27th July. The venue will reopen at 6am on Sunday 28th.

Wednesday 24th July 2013

The club are pleased to announce that the River Bollin Tanyard Farm stretch has re-opened to members with immediate affect, a club lock has now been fitted to the main gate and members are reminded that this must be kept closed and locked at all times when entering or leaving the field. Parking has been agreed with the owner and members are allowed to drive down to the area before the road bridge when conditions allow but must not take their vehicles beyond this point at any time.

Estates have completed the stiles today, big thank you to PJW and John for their hard work. The owner has also requested that all members are informed that if they find the entry gate locked when they arrive then it must be locked when they’ve passed through it. The same goes for all the other gates…they must be closed once they have passed through them, thank you.

Thursday 11th July 2013

The Wroxeter stretch of the River Severn will be closed to anglers until 6pm on Friday 12th July. The fields to the left and right of the main car park will be open and have been producing barbel in numbers according to reports earlier tonight.

Also known as Poachers Field the length at Wroxeter will be host to Wychwood TV who are filming a river feature and looking to do battle with the local residents of barbel and chub who have gone to double figures in recent weeks, Lymm AC wish all concerned good luck and we look forward to seeing the production in the near future.

Tuesday 2nd July 2013

The Estates team will be carrying out tree lopping & tidying the far bank at NEW POOL next week from Monday 8th July, please avoid fishing the far bank during this time, the rest of New and Spring Pool will remain OPEN to members. Thank you.

Thursday 27th June 2013

It’s good news for Lymmvale regulars, the carp have finished spawning and the venue will re-open from 6pm on Friday 28th June. That means as of Friday 6pm all waters will be available to members and with the new season getting under way there’s never been a better time to hit the banks!!

Saturday 22nd June 2013

Chester Specimen Lake has re-opened from today however the carp in Lymmvale have started spawning this morning and therefore the Head Water keeper has closed Lymmvale.

Saturday 15th June 2013

The Head Water Keeper is pleased to announce that the Belmont Estate and Founders will re-open from 6am on Saturday 15th June. Thank you for your patients during the closure and enjoy your fishing.

Friday 14th June 2013

Chester Specimen Lake is closed as the carp have started spawning, thanks to Foggy for keeping an eye on the activity. The Bailiffs will continue to monitor the water on a daily basis and we will announce to the members when it re-opens.

Sunday 9th June 2013

Wrinehill Pool will re-open from 9am on Monday 10th June, thanks to all our members for being patient and monitoring the activity on a daily basis!! The Head Water Keeper will be assessing other waters and updates will be published as soon as we have them, tight lines for the new season.

This post will be updated frequently to keep members informed on waters affected by the weather and any spawning activity. The Head Water Keeper John Stubbs will (along with the water keeping teams) provide the information about activity on each water.

Only the waters listed below are affected at present so it’s reasonably safe to assume all other waters are open but you should always consult the specific waters notice board before starting fishing.

There are active posts on the subject on the forum at the moment but if you do have any information about spawning activity on our waters that would be useful for other members to know then please Contact Us.

Like this:

With the long awaited summer weather finally upon us, June’s competition, sponsored by Viking Baits and Red Eye baits, has produced some tremendous specimens from club waters. The best of the bunch include a stunning PB mirror for club member Coxy12, from Wrinehill pool.

Forum member Gazzab123 had a great session on Serpentine pool, on the Belmont estate. The best of five carp was a PB 20.2lb common.

Next up, club ‘legend’, or should that be leg end… Billy Smith aka Smudge finally landed a 20lb+ carp and in his own modest words,

‘This one is bound to win. Finally caught a 20+ fish after not really trying to catch one for the last 40 odd years. 6lb line with a small ball of boiled paste meant for proper fish. (tench) 25lb and a few ounces. And because I’m the first to catch it, I’m giving it a name. It’s name is a carp. From the Vale’.

Billy’s first 20lb carp, from Lymmvale.

To complete the list of competitors, this is an 8.12lb tench, which Billy was hoping to catch, also from Lymmvale.

But even with a strong line up, June’s Catch Of The Month prize was only heading in one direction and that was to Nick Lynes and his new club record capture of the Lymmvale ‘Big girl’ catfish. Fellow angler Neil Golden who witnessed the capture has produced what is an excellent report for the blog…

Firstly, a big apology to all members who had hoped to get on Chester’s Specimen lake on the 1st day of the season. Like most of us, the carp on Chester only spawn once a year so I had to give them their privacy and close the Lake. Thank you to all the lads who where on there and left without any complaints, it is really appreciated.

Anyway, as Chester was closed I joined the minority and planned an alternative lake for the first weekend of the season. After much deliberation I chose Lymm Vale. I even managed to get the Friday afternoon off work in the hope of beating the Friday rush to the lake. I rocked up just after 2pm and bumped into one of my regulars from Chester. He’d already spotted the fish so swim selection wasn’t difficult and I set up on the Boat House.
I expected the Vale to be busy as a few lakes where closed for spawning. I checked my watch at 5pm and was quite shocked that there were still plenty of pegs free. As such, I called my mate Nick and told him to come down to wet a line. Nick had planned to join Lymm Anglers for a while and wanted to fish Chester on the 1st day of the season. However, as I’d closed it for a few days Nick was going to wait till it was open again before arranging his membership. I explained to Nick that he could join online and as long as he could provide proof to the bailiffs he’d be fine. Nick arrived just after 7pm some 20 minutes after paying for his ticket. Regrettably, a few more people had turned up so the peg next to me was now taken. However, when Nick arrived we had a look round the lake and thought his best chance would be at the car park end of the lake.

Once Nick was set up I went round the lake to check tickets and to see how everyone was getting on. It transpired that the lads on the sand bank where leaving early in the morning and the lads next to me where swapping swims with them. This in return, would leave the two pegs on my left empty. That evening I had a few Tench and the lad next to me landed a stunning Mirror.

The next morning around 5am the heavens opened so this delayed the peg move slightly however I managed to move and Nick joined me after the rain had settled. I explained to Nick that I’d had a cast around in both swims (while he was tucked up in his bivvy out of the rain) and found a few spots of interest. We were on the same bait so agreed to fish as a pair and maximise our chances by covering a reasonable area of the Lake.

It was a quiet afternoon with all the fish moving away from us and up towards the car park end (much to Nick’s frustration). I explained to Nick that the reason for this was clearly because John Stubbs had the kettle on and was making bacon butties. In fact it wasn’t just the carp that ended up that end of the lake. I also found myself up there choosing between red and brown sauce.

Now, I think this was the pivotal moment in mine and Nick’s session. Reason being, I told Nick that I was just going to see John for a catch up. However, I managed to devour two bacon butties (I chose brown sauce by the way) and two cups of coffee.

When I got back to the peg Nick, like any good fishing partner, was also in chef mode and had the bacon on the go. Regrettably, I had to decline the offer of a third bacon sandwich and made the excuse that I was changing some rigs round and I’d have one later. I really didn’t have the heart then to tell him I’d already had breakfast and I think this is when the carp gods looked down on me in disgust!

I attempted to hide my guilt by regularly making a cuppa but what happened next made it clear there was not getting away from my little secret and this reminded me that angling always finds a way to even things out.

We had just started to get some bait out when Nick’s right hand rod roared (and I mean roared) off with a one toner. This rod was only an under arm chuck away and I clocked the swirl from my peg. By the time I got over to Nick his was rod tip was no higher than his shoulders with the rod almost straight. As you can imagine, my first instinct was to ask ‘what you playing at noddy’ but it soon became apparent he was struggling to get the rod any higher. I helped him sort his clutch out and from then onwards it was all down to him. Nick had never caught a cat before and it was one species he was keen on avoiding. In fact I remember the time when the roles were reversed and once he netted it for me he was off!

The first time the cat came in close we knew it was the big girl and Nick looked far from impressed, but he soon zoned out again as it ripped of another 30 yards of line. The battle was epic and an experience that Nick will never forget. It was easily 20 plus minutes and we have most of it on film. All the commotion had alerted Jordan and Chris from the sand bank so they reeled in and came over. A huge thank you lads for your assistance as I don’t think we’d of managed without you.
Chris and I secured the massive predator in the sling while Jordan held the scales. Meanwhile Nick didn’t know what to do with himself and who could blame him. He’d been a member just over 24hours and landed the biggest fish on the Lymm card.

The cat weighted in at 66lb 5oz a represents a new Lymm Vale lake record. Naturally I’ve told him it doesn’t count because we were after the carp, which technically means he blanked!

Joking aside, top angling Nick you deserved that buddy.

A worthy winner I’m sure you’ll agree and thanks to Neil for a great write up. To fish Lymmvale for the big cats and of course all our other waters too, check out the website by clicking on the link below!